Auxiliary control for internal combustion engines



` P. E. BENNER Filed Aug. 20, 1954 lam, 28, QS

AUXILIARY CONTROL FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES NO /m OS @S SS RQ T\ Unite States Patent O AUXILIARY CQNTROL FOR INTERNAL COIVBUSTION ENGINES Paul B. Benner, Peoria, El., assiguor to Caterpillar Tractor Co., Peoria, lll., a California corporation Application August 20, 1954, Serial No. 451,218

6 Claims. (Cl. 74-482) The present invention relates generally to an auxiliary control for internal combustion engines and particularly to a combined engine accelerating and decelerating device which may be operated by foot in conjunction with an engine which is normally accelerated and decelerated through the medium of a manually controlled system.

ln many tractors, as Well as other types of road grading and earthmoving vehicles, there are several hand actuated levers under the operators control. For example, there are in addition to steering means, various clutches and levers controlling the movement of the vehicle over the ground and also manually controlled means for raising or lowering a bulldozer blade or similar earth handling equipment.

The operation of the engine which drives the vehicle is customarily controlled by a hand throttle capable of being set for any desired engine speed. Frequently, the hand throttle is set at full-load position and due to a change in operating conditions, the load which the vehicle is handling is reduced, calling for an adjustment of the throttle. This may occur while the operator is negotiating a turn or while the vehicle is passing over the crest of a high spot iu the terrain or under various other circumstances requiring adjustments which occupy both hands of the operator and render it impractical for him to adjust the throttle. Also, with full load operation of this type a common practice, clutch wear has become a critical problem due to the failure of many operators to decelerate the engine while shifting gears.

It is desirable, therefore, in order to provide improved operating conditions, that the operator of such a vehicle be able to momentarily decelerate an engine operating in a high-load range and momentarily accelerate an engine operating in a no-load or low-idle range while his hands are otherwise occupied.

It is an object of the present invention to provide in combination with a vehicle having an engine and a manually actuated throttle therefor an auxiliary pedalactuated control means capable of accelerating and decelerating said engine. A further object of this invention is to provide a dual pedal device for accelerating and decelerating a manually controlled engine through a common linkage arrangement which will eiect momentary response to said pedal actuation and which, upon release of pedal pressure, will permit said engine to immediately return to the operating condition dictated by the setting of the manual control means. Another important object is to provide a unit control means, pedal-actuated, to effect acceleration and deceleration without disturbing the position of the hand throttle. Further objects and advantages of the invention are made apparent in the following specification in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

The drawings illustrate the invention as applied to the fuel control system of a compression ignition engine, though it will be apparent from reading the following specication, that an accelerator-decelerator and the con- Pate'ntd Jan. 28, 1958 trol means thereof of the present invention is applicable to other types of engines.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic view with parts in section illustrating a governor and control means for an internal combustion engine of the compression ignition type showing the application thereto of a pedal-actuated accelerator and decelerator constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a reduced longitudinal sectional view of the control means illustrated in Fig. 1 showing the condition obtaining while one type of control function for an engine and governor therefor is in effect; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the control means similar to Fig. 2, illustrating the condition obtaining while another type of control function is in effect.

The accelerator-decelerator of the present invention is disclosed in Fig. l as comprising a control means generally indicated 10 comprising a cylinder 10a underlying an operators platform 11 forming a part of a vehicle and interposed between a manual control means 12 and an engine governor 13 by suitable means as will be described.

The manual control means 12 comprises a handoperated lever 14 pivotally mounted adjacent the operators station above said platform 11 which is efective to control the quantity of fuel injected into the engine by suitable control of an actuating lever 16 of said governor 13 which varies the preload on the governor spring (not shown). To effect this control, actuating lever 14 is fixed to a shaft 17 suitably mounted for oscillation adjacent the operators platform. Also fixed to the shaft 17 is a lever 18 which is pivoted to a connecting rod 19 as by pin 21. The other end of the connecting rod 19 is pivotally secured as at 22a to a bellcrank 22 supported for oscillation on a pin 23. The bellcrank 22 is also connected with a rod 24 as by pin 24a which, through the medium of said control means 10, is connected with a rod 26 in a manner presently to be described. The rods 24 and 26 may be considered as a single rod which would be constructed in one piece were it not for the interposition of the control means 10 of the present invention. One end of rod 26 is pivotally journalled on a pin 27 carried by the actuating lever 16 of said governor 13. Thus the setting of the governor is controlled by the position of the hand lever 14 which is held in any set position by any suitable latch or friction means (not shown) which is releasable as by a thumb actuated button illustrated as projecting from the top of lever 14 in accordance with conventional practice.

The other end of said rod 26 is connected to a lever 29 as by a pin 28. The lever 29 is mounted for oscillation with a shaft 31 retained beneath the platform 11 in a suitable bearing block 35. An extension 32 secured as by welding to the end of said control means 10 is also freely journalled on pin 2S.

The rod 24 extends into the control means 10 and terminates in an enlarged head portion 34. A threaded cap 36 serves as an end-closure for one end of the cylinder 10a. A sleeve member 41 is slidably retained within said cylinder 10a and permits axial movement of the head portion 34.

An expansible coil spring 42 is disposed within the cylinder 10a and bears at one end against the cap 36 and at the opposite end against an end-closure 43 ofU 34 and the closed end 47 of the cylinder 10a; the relai tive spring forces are such that, when the governor 13 and the handle. throttle 14 are in balance, spring 42 is elective to hold the sleeve 41 in the position illustrated in Fig. l which provides a solid link effect for hand throttle control. Furthermore, the preload condition of spring 42 is suicient to overcome' the load exerted'by the governor 13.

In order to provide actuation of said control means by foot pressure, a lever 51 isxsecured intermediate its ends to the shaft 31 for oscillation therewith, and pedal means comprising an accelerator pedal 52 and a decelerator pedal 53 are adjustably secured, one in each end of said lever 51 as by threaded connections indicated at 54.

The condition of the control .means 10 will be as shown in Fig. 1 whenever the hand throttle 14 is set at a low idle or part-load setting, and the pedals 52 and 53 assume low idle positions. Upon application of foot pressure to the accelerator pedal 52 toward the high idle position shown, i. e., toward acceleration, the cylinder 10a will move toward the left and assume the position shown in Fig. 2. This movement compresses spring 42, which in effect increases the distance between pins 24a and 28 and adjusts the governor lever to increase the fuel supply to the engine. Immediately upon releasing said foot pressure, spring 42 returns the cylinder and linkage to the condition shown in Fig. kl, or in other words, at low idle.

The condition of the control means will be the same as shown in Fig. l when the hand throttle is set at a high idle position, at which time the pedals also assume high idle positions. Upon depressing the decelerating pedal 53, cylinder 10 will be moved to the right causing spring 46 to be compressed between the enlarged head 34 and the closed end 47 of cylinder 10a (as seen in Fig. 3). This will shorten the distance between pins 24a and 28 and cause governor lever 16 to be rocked in a clockwise direction or toward the low fuel position. In this case, as soon as the decelerator pedal 53 is released, spring 46 restores control means 10 to normal (as seen in Fig. l) and causes immediate acceleration of the engine to the extent determined by the hand throttle setting, it being understood that both springs 42 and 46 impose force greater than that of the governor spring.

The control as disclosed in the present invention provides also for dual control for shutting down the engine, which control is effected by manually raising pedal 52 to the shut-olf position shown in Fig. l or by manipulating the hand throttle to its no-fuel position.

The operator of a vehicle provided with an acceleratordecelerator control of the present invention may elect immediate acceleration or deceleration of the engine Without the necessity of using his hands and without the necessity of thereafter resetting the hand throttle to reestablish the normal engine speed under which the vehicle is being operated.

I claim:

l. In a vehicle engine control which includes a fuel control device, a hand throttle adapted to be set in a fixed position, and connections between the hand throttle and control device to vary the quantityof fuel delivered to the engine, the combination of pedal means connected to the fuel control device to accelerate or decelerate the engine by foot pressure, and an expandablecontractible link in the hand throttle connections to preventv alteration of the hand throttle position upon acceleration or deceleration through the pedal means.

2. In a vehicle engine control which includes a fuel control device, a hand throttle adapted to be set in a fixed position, and connections between the hand throttle and control device to vary the quantity of fuel delivered to the engine, the combination of pedal means connected to the fuel control device to accelerate or decelerate the engine by foot pressure, and an expandablecontractible link inthe hand throttle connections to prevent alterationy of the hand throttle position upon acceleration or deceleration through the pedal means, said link comprising a cylinder with a rod reciprocable through one end thereof, an enlarged head portion on the end of the rodin the cylinder, a spring between one en-d of the cylinder and said head portion urging the rod to an extended position, a second spring between said head portion and the opposite end of the cylinder urging the rod to a retracted position, and means to limit the retraction of the rod.

3. In a vehicle engine control which includes a fuel control device, a hand throttle `adapted to be set in a fixed position, and connections between the hand throttle and control device .to vary the quantity of fuel delivered to the engine, the combination of pedal means connected to the fuel control device to accelerate or decelerate the engine by foot pressure, and an expandable-contractible link in the hand throttle connections Ito prevent alteration of the hand throttle position upon acceleration or deceleration through the pedal means, said Vlink comprising a cylinder with a rod reciprocable through one end thereof, an enlarged head portion on the Vend of the rod in the cylinder, a spring between one end of the cylinder and said head portion urging the rod to an extended position, a second spring between said head portion and the opposite end of the cylinder urging the rod to a retracted position, and a sleeve surrounding the firstV spring with one end engaging the first said cylinder end and the other end engaging said second spring to limit lthe retraction of the rod.

4. In a vehicle engine control which includes a fuel control device, a hand throttle, and connections between the hand throttle and control device to vary the quantity f fuel delivered .to the engine, the combination of pedal means connected to the fuel control device to accelerate or decelerate the engine, and an eXpandable-contractible link in the hand throttle connections to prevent alteration of the hand throttle position upon acceleration or deceleration through the pedal means, said link comprising a :cylinder with ya rod reciprocable through one end thereof, an enlarged head portion on the end of the `rod in the cylinder, a spring between one end fof the cylinder and said head portion urging the rod to an extended position, a second spring between said head portion and the opposite end of the cylinder urging the rod to a retracted position, and a sleeve surrounding the first spring with one end `engaging the rst said cylinder end and the other end engaging said second spring to limit the retraction of the rod, said sleeve being slidable in the cylinder and having an end embracing the head portion of the rod to slide with the rod upon extension of the rod.

5. In a vehicle having an engine and an operators platform, a manually actuated throttle lever adjacent the platform and connected with .the engine by control means underlying the platform, said control means comprising a rod, a cylinder having end-closures, one of which is carried reciprocably on one portion of said rod, a sleeve slidable within said cylinder; said sleeve having one endclosure, an enlarged head on said rod disposed for reciprocation within said sleeve, a spring surrounding said rod and interposed between one end of the cylinder and said sleeve end-closure, .a second spring interposed between said enlarged head and the other end of said cylinder, pedal means extending through the platform, a lever actuated by said pedal means and pivoted to said cylinder to move said .cylinder in y.one direction and effect acceleration, lcompressing said lirst named spring to avoid movement of the throttle lever, or to move said cylinder in the -other direction and effect deceleration compressing saidsecond named spring tgo avoid movement of the throttle lever.

6. In a vehicle having an engine and an operators platform, a manually actuated throttle lever adjacent'V the platform and connected with the engine by control means underlying the platform, said control means comprising a rod, a cylinder having end-closures; one of which is carried reciprocably on one portion of said rod, a sleeve slidable Within said cylinder; said sleeve having one end-closure, a head on said rod disposed for recipro cation within said sleeve, a spring surrounding said rod and interposed between the cylinder and said sleeve endclosure and maintaining the efective length of the rod fixed during the manipulation 0f the manual control, a second spring interposed between said head and the other end of said cylinder, pedal means extending through the platform, a lever actuated by said pedal means and pivoted to said cylinder to move said lcylinder in one direction and etect acceleration, compressing said first References Cited in the tile of this patent UNT ED STATES PATENTS 537,346 Maag Apr. 9, 18,95 1,630,199 Megnin May 24, 1927 1,736,132 Rippingille Nov. 19, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS 97,142 Sweden Oct. 17, 1939 

